"Expresscoin has gone out of their way to increase access to bitcoin as much as possible, which is in line with our philosophy of making Bitcoin security easy for developers. From the very beginning, we wanted Gem to empower digital currency companies to focus on building great user experiences, instead of focusing on infrastructure," said Gem CEO and founder Micah Winkelspecht. "Partnering with expresscoin, one of the industry's most prominent digital currency retailers, is the next big step in showcasing how seamlessly Gem's API can integrate into other apps and services while maintaining the level of security consumers demand."

Expresscoin is a Santa Monica-based Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Blackcoin, and Darkcoin retailer that makes the digital currency buying experience fast, safe and easy. Previously, the company required users to bring their own wallet to the site, allowing them to test various wallet offerings on the market. However, as multi-signature, hierarchical-deterministic (HD) wallets are increasingly recognized and adopted as an industry best practice, expresscoin has partnered with Gem to be able to offer a multi-sig, HD wallet as their default.

Since launching at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield last September, Gem has already been hailed as a "game-changer" in the increasingly saturated Bitcoin and payments space. Gem's focus on developer happiness sets it apart from the rest, with an easy to use API that can be integrated into a variety of apps and services with less than ten lines of code. With their core philosophy of empowering individual sovereignty, Gem's multi-signature API wallet also stands out from typical industry custodial wallets in that Gem is never in possession of enough keys to move a customer's funds without their approval. Simplicity and security are in high demand in the Bitcoin ecosystem, which is why Gem's innovative combination of multi-signature technology, multi-factor authentication and monitoring capabilities make Gem a top API wallet choice for expresscoin and the entire digital currency community.

Gem's partnership with expresscoin consists of two phases. Phase one will equip all current expresscoin internal operational wallets with Gem's multi-signature security platform. Phase two includes the release of a new, co-branded wallet that will be the default wallet for new expresscoin customers. This wallet will also be made available to existing expresscoin customers who would like to switch to the new multi-sig HD wallet from their existing wallet. This integration makes expresscoin the first major bitcoin retailer to adopt multi-sig as their security standard.

The benefit of the new collaborative wallet is ultimately more security and control as it features Gem's multi-signature key system through which Gem issues three keys: two that the customer holds (one online and one stored securely offline), and a third key held by Gem as a cosigner. The three-key system ensures that the customer always has control over their funds, with possession of enough keys to move funds without Gem. Since Gem only holds one key, it can never transfer funds without the customer's approval. On the other hand, if a customer's online key becomes compromised, the attacker would be unsuccessful moving funds without Gem's cosigning key or the customer's offline key.

"Keeping our customers' funds safe while allowing them full control and manageability of their coins is our number one priority," said expresscoin CEO Will Wheeler. "Gem's cutting-edge platform offers our customers the security and flexibility they desire and allows us to focus on providing a superior service."

"There are thousands of Bitcoin apps with many more currently in development, but none of them will resonate with users unless they are secure and easy to use," said Gem COO Ken Miller. "2014 was a monumental year for legitimizing bitcoin as a currency. 2015 should be the year it becomes mainstream; however, crucial to its wide adoption and advancement is trust in its security, and we're excited to provide that security to expresscoin and all other apps and services."

About GemGem, founded in 2014 by Micah Winkelspecht, is a simple and secure Bitcoin and cryptocurrency platform that allows developers to build feature-rich Bitcoin applications in minutes using less than ten lines of code. Gem's mission is to empower individuals to be sovereign over their own assets, starting with bitcoin. The Gem API leverages a host of security features such as multi-signature wallets and multifactor authentication to provide an easy to use, comprehensive security solution for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency apps, without ever taking possession of funds. Gem is located in Venice, CA.